Shinobi

[Bluecast]

So we don't hijack the new members topic anymore. So if a mod feels like mobing those posts away from that topic here is the place.

Not played the PS2 game. Will get it someday but in no hurry to get my ass kicked.
Played some of the Genesis games and have the first on SMS.

3DS owners probably should give the game a chance. Already mentioned in the other topic game kinda put me off because the second stage vehicle hopping and the horse rising bit are just not needed.
Few positives. The first stage is classic Shinobi. In fact it's very reminiscent of Shinobi 3. It's not a remake, however it is a prequel. Jim Musashi, Joe's dad. Has some great animated sequences.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

I played the shit out of that game, it didn't leave my 3ds until I'd beaten it twice. Its one of those games you kinda have to start on easy.

It has a lot of cool rewards as well, like the fact that if you beat it on hard you get to play as Sarah.

[Bluecast]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVmBcR1EsY[/youtube]
^ Haha It's Masi Oka.

I remember this ad. I loved it and remember I had to see the review on Extended Play on Tech TV. They liked it I believe. I remember all the talk besides the series was back and was hard. The scarf physics. Of course in the PS2/Dreamcast early days physics in games were a new thing..at least on consoles. Funny tho whenever this game get's talked about no one ever talks about Nightshade.

Was it bad or just decent but a major step down?

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

Actually i liked nightshade a lot, it was kind of crazy and fast.

[OL]

Jim Musashi, Joe's dad.

Okay, that kind of kills it a bit for me. I still plan to play it eventually, but a character named "Jim Musashi" is just ridiculous. Joe Musashi's name was originally Jo Musashi in Japan; it was a Japanese name, but the "e" was added to westernize it in a totally shallow way for the western releases.
"Jim Musashi"... it sounds like he ought to be a Rising Zan-style cowboy/samurai.

*EDIT: Wikipedia says his name is Jiro Musashi... okay, that makes a little more sense.*

And yeah, I like Nightshade too. It's pretty much just the PS2 Shinobi with a female protagonist, but it's a fun little game either way.

[Henry Spencer]

Am I only the one who didn't find Shinobi PS2 hard? Not meaning to brag, but it really wasn't hard to me, at all. Now, the 3DS game on the other hand. Phwoar. Now, that game is bloody hard. III is still my favourite in the series. And III has horse sections in it too, just like the 3DS game does. Heck, III even has ninjas surfing. Game was awesome. Emphasis on the awe part.

[Bluecast]

^ Well I never played just heard it was tough. Yes the 3DS game is fucking brutal. I have only played Shinobi SMS,Revenge and III.

How about the Saturn,Game Gear and Shadow Dancer games?

[OL]

Shadow Dancer is effing awesome. Still got a bit of that old-fashioned difficulty to it though.
But I've played through Shinobi III so many times over the years (since the early freakin 90s) that I can beat it no problem now. Still a ton of fun though.

[Mr.Din]

shinobi ps2 is only hard because I got spoiled with kunoichi/nightshade first. both are awesome games. I still til this day cant get through revenge, I just like III's game play better.

[OL]

Totally random wall of text incoming...

III is the perfect Shinobi game, you ask me. Best part of the series, hands down.
Quicker and smoother than Revenge, and by this point the series had securely distanced itself from its Rolling Thunder-ripoff roots. The music is more complex and, in my eyes, catchier than Koshiro's OST for Revenge, and the visuals and design work are absolutely the perfect balance of traditional Japanese imagery, a modern-day setting, and over-the-top sci-fi flourishes.
If they really wanted to successfully revitalize the series, I personally think the best thing they could do is remake Shinobi III with modern graphics and gameplay. Same general design work, same level styles, remixed music, and make the gameplay a mix of stylish melee fighting with shuriken "shooting" action (the series essentially began as a run-n-gun, so to speak, just with shurikens in place of guns).
I imagine the possibilities of something like that, and my mind drifts away into wishful-thinking heaven. Just think what they could do with the scrolling horeseback and jetboard levels...

The rest of the series is great too, but they've all got their "drawbacks" in one way or another. Revenge, as much as most people love it, is hard to take seriously as its own entity, what with all of the cheesy plagiarized bosses everyone (inexplicably) loves so much. And, as mentioned, it's kind of stiff and bland compared to other actioners on the system. And as much as I love Shadow Dancer, it's really just an enhanced copy of the Rolling Thunder series. That's not a bad thing by any means, but it does leave it sitting in that series' shadow for me. Can't say much about the handheld iterations, but they never appeared to be anything all that special.
I've always felt that Shinobi III is the place where the series truly became its own thing. No part of it feels like it's trying to copy anyone or anything else. It's still one of my favorite ninja games ever (and might be #1, if only the Tenchu series didn't exist).
Kind of a grand statement, but for me, it really is one of the defining games not just of the 16-bit era, but of the 90s as a whole.

[Henry Spencer]

Excellent post, Orange, feel exactly the same way about it. It's pretty much, the perfect 2D ninja action game. The level design is just simply sublime, the bosses are the most intense an varied of the series (even if they did reuse a couple of them from Revenge, they're still very different from how they were in that game and/or much faster) and the art design just hit its peak with that game. For years I also believed Revenge was the best one, then I played III once I reacquired a Mega Drive. I've since played through III around five or six times to completion over the years. It is just a brilliant game. Similarly how some people feel about the Metroidvania games or the Ninja Gaiden games, I feel about Shinobi III.

And Orange, you absolutely must pick up the 3DS game, since it's got so many obvious homages to III and the team who developed it did say that III was generally the favourite game and it shows. Just prepare yourself for the hardest entry in the series.

[ThyDarkAngel]

I agree, Shinobi III is the best in the series and such a fantastic ride.
Both it and Master System's Ninja Gaiden are my ultimate 2d ninja videogames of all time.

It hurts my heart that Shinobi Ps2 hasn't made the IP commercially liable again, in 3d, because it is a very good title.

This one might be somewhat shallow compared to the best the Shinobi series has to offer but it is the most fun I ever add on the Game Gear and a pretty solid game all and all:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KlcleL8suw[/youtube]

[Mr.Din]

Totally random wall of text incoming...

III is the perfect Shinobi game, you ask me. Best part of the series, hands down.
Quicker and smoother than Revenge, and by this point the series had securely distanced itself from its Rolling Thunder-ripoff roots. The music is more complex and, in my eyes, catchier than Koshiro's OST for Revenge, and the visuals and design work are absolutely the perfect balance of traditional Japanese imagery, a modern-day setting, and over-the-top sci-fi flourishes.
If they really wanted to successfully revitalize the series, I personally think the best thing they could do is remake Shinobi III with modern graphics and gameplay. Same general design work, same level styles, remixed music, and make the gameplay a mix of stylish melee fighting with shuriken "shooting" action (the series essentially began as a run-n-gun, so to speak, just with shurikens in place of guns).
I imagine the possibilities of something like that, and my mind drifts away into wishful-thinking heaven. Just think what they could do with the scrolling horeseback and jetboard levels...

The rest of the series is great too, but they've all got their "drawbacks" in one way or another. Revenge, as much as most people love it, is hard to take seriously as its own entity, what with all of the cheesy plagiarized bosses everyone (inexplicably) loves so much. And, as mentioned, it's kind of stiff and bland compared to other actioners on the system. And as much as I love Shadow Dancer, it's really just an enhanced copy of the Rolling Thunder series. That's not a bad thing by any means, but it does leave it sitting in that series' shadow for me. Can't say much about the handheld iterations, but they never appeared to be anything all that special.
I've always felt that Shinobi III is the place where the series truly became its own thing. No part of it feels like it's trying to copy anyone or anything else. It's still one of my favorite ninja games ever (and might be #1, if only the Tenchu series didn't exist).
Kind of a grand statement, but for me, it really is one of the defining games not just of the 16-bit era, but of the 90s as a whole.

I Wholeheartedly agree with all of this, III is my favorite shinobi game Kunoichi coming a close 2nd.

And here I thought I was insane thinking III has the best soundtrack of the series. My Dear D, Japa.. e.. esque? err, Idaten and especially Izayoi. Oh and when that racing game did this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjg4qqoL_vs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf9vutxnL9k[/youtube]
SEGA take my money. I do wish the former was the full thing.

Has anyone played Shinobi X for the Saturn? looks pretty decent to me.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

Since theres no Ryo, Jiro is my main in Transformed.

[Mr.Din]

Since theres no Ryo, Jiro is my main in Transformed.

Joe is the one in transformed, sucks that there's no Ryo. I don't understand what reason there is to omit characters.